Steak and Malbec at La Cabrera, Cuban Cigars, and the Buenos Aires Bike Tour

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Buenos Aires.  My sweet, sweet Buenos Aires. I am going to miss you.

We spent 3 special weeks together over the last 2 months. It was you who introduced me to my crazy Aussie traveling companions. You were the first place I heard about the opportunity to travel to Antarctica. I must say, I am going to miss your 11pm dinners, your nightclubs that open at 2am, your bountiful steaks, and your mate (MA-TAY is a local tea sort of thing). You are a sweet, gentle ciudad.  I hope that you treat the others that follow me into your arms as well as you have treated me. Oh Buenos Aires, I love you!

My final stint in Buenos Aires can be summed up in one word:  “STEAK”. John Wynn (profile below) and I have spent the last few days eating gigantic steaks, drinking wine, and chilling hard. The weather this time around has been spectacular as it has been 75 and sunny almost every day.

The first night out John and I ate at Cabanas Las Linas in Puerto Madero, BA’s thriving water front area. In addition to a big, fat, delicious T-bone, we enjoyed a few bottles of malbec from Mendoza, Cuban cigars, and some tawney port. I should start a port and Cuban cigar club.

The next night the food was even better at La Cabrera in Palermo. We both got chorizo (Argentine cut of steak), and about 15 sides that the restaurant gives with each portion. The steaks were insanely good and we could not walk after the meal.

I am starting to realize that when my friends from home come out to visit, I am going to spend quite a bit more cash than when I am traveling with other backpackers.

John and I also decided to take a bike tour through Buenos Aires. Yes, I still look ridiculous on a bike. The tour turned out to be a great way to see the city. It was fairly flat, we had a hot Argentine tour guide, and we only came close to death a few times as crazy Argentine drivers disputed our right to the road. How can you go wrong? I am really not going to miss Argentinian Drivers. They will continue to drive each other off the roads here long after I am gone. I still think stop signs would be a really good ideas. I am not even sure if these people have to pass a driving test to get their licenses!

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Traveler Profile
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John Wynn~ 26 Years old, Washington DC, USA

John started out his travels in Buenos Aires for a few days. He will be traveling with me for the next 3 weeks in Brazil. John has spent the last three months with his head in a book studying for the Maryland bar exam. Apparently, this has not been a fun 3 months for Johnny boy. He is completely blowing off steam down here which is great. JW is also getting married this year in August. I guess you could say 2007 is looking like a monumental year in the life of John. He wants to write a guest blog. I am interested to see if he actually has the motivation. So far he is taking relaxation to a whole new level.

John is one of my few friends from home that has already extensively traveled the world. After college, he traveled to South Africa. Then he hitchhiked his way up eastern Africa to Kenya. He has some pretty interesting stories involving the stench that emanates from the buses of Africa. From there he traveled to Egypt, India, China, and South East Asia. So, life on the road together has been very easy for Johnny Law and I.  He knows a hell of a lot more than I do with regards to traveling. He hads traveled in much, much more difficult environments.

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We decided to make the last night of Buenos Aires a big one. I think we got home around 7:30am.  We went out to a nice dinner, and then headed to Crobar. It is a multi city mega club. Ironically, Crobar is the only club I have been to in South Beach, Miami. Anyway, as the night came to a close and the sun came up I realized just how much I am going to miss this city. John has been here for 4 days and is already talking about when hes going to move here. As far as I am concerned, Buenos Aires is a extremely cheap Europe. It comes complete with attractive passionate people, good wine and steak, crazy futball fans, and more art and culture then you could imagine. 100 dollars US can get you through a big weekend with ease. I love it here. I have spent more time here than any other place in my first 2 months.

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Notes:

> John and I are currently in Iguazu Falls in northern Argentina. The Hostel that we are staying in is kick ass. It is like a resort in comparison to the rest I have experienced. We just got finished an all you can eat barbecue dinner–for $ 6 US dollars– and currently as I type, they are having a Tango show right in the dining room. This is our last taste of Argentina as tomorrow we leave for Florianapolis, Brazil. I am hoping to post our Iguazu story tomorrow. It is a good one! Hope is the key word !

> The girls tango dancing in front of me right now are HOT!

> Since Antarctica, I have run into 4 people from the trip. It is wild. Today I ran into Sen from Japan at the bus station of Iguazu. He is heading to paint in the Amazon.

> Go Terps! Even though I have not seen a single second of college Basketball since I have been down here. Oh, and my hat is off to the Baltimore Ravens for signing Willis Mahgahee.

> This is my first time using a Mac. I do not have a clue what I am doing. If anyone has ever used blogger and a Mac at the same time shoot me an email and I will forever be in your debt!

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